Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets

Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets taste just like the real thing. I am in love with this easy recipe for dinner! We love to eat at Chick-fil-A but now we won’t have to spend as much money because now we can just eat at home instead. Chick-fil-A uses Peanut Oil to fry their nuggets. It is worth the investment if you want them to taste just like the real thing or you can use another oil of choice 🙂

Some readers say that Chick-fil-A brines their nuggets in pickle juice (dill) and some don’t agree. You can can always give it a try both ways and see what you think. We do not brine our nuggets and they taste amazing! We have also asked our local Chick-fil-A and they do not brine their nuggets.

actually highly refined peanut oil has none of the peanut proteins remaining in it and will not affect you. Our son is severely allergic to peanuts and eats chick-fil-a with no problems, and winchell’s doughnuts too even though they cook in peanut oil.

Agreed Amy. I made chicken nuggets at Chick Fil A for several years. Chicken went from milk wash (where it didn’t marinate more than a few minutes) directly into the breading mixture. No pickle juice involved.

When I worked there, many years ago, there was pickle juice in the brine for the strips, not the nuggets. It definitely wasn’t the only ingredient, and I don’t remember anything else that was in the strip brine. The nuggets, however, are chunks of breast meat cut into bite sized pieces, dunked in the milkwash, then the flour mixture, then into a pressure fryer with peanut oil. This was 18 years ago though, so the pickle juice for the strips may have changed. I will definitely try this recipe at home, Chik-Fil-A always had the best nuggets!

I made these tonight. I was bummed that the didn’t turn out like yours. They were not as crispy as yours. I did everything you did but I used Vegetable oil. Maybe if I used peanut oil they would have been crispier. I will say they tasted wonderful. My kids, husband and I scarfed them down.

yes I did drain them well on paper towels. I don’t think putting them in the oven would have made them crispier. I think I will try the oil change and see if that helps. I noticed others pins had the same result so maybe it was the temp of the oil. The meat was very juicy and the crust was very tasty. Thanks for replying.

I use vegetable oil to make chicken nuggets all the time. As well as canola and peanut. I’ve never had any issues with them not being crispy. Maybe your oil wasn’t quite hot enough. I dip a wooden spoon in the heated oil and if it doesn’t bubble a lot immediately it’s not ready.

I worked at Chickfila for awhile. They do not brine their chicken in pickle juice. The chicken is placed in a milk wash then dry mix before being pressure cooked in peanut oil. I can’t tell you everything that goes into the milk wash and dry mix because the recipe isn’t listed in the containers for these items. But the key to Chickfila’s taste is the pressure cooking and the peanut oil.

You will get a closure texture if you use breadcrumbs instead of flour. Otherwise you are very close in nailing it. I have come as close as I am going to get and changing to breadcrumbs made quite a difference. Even a blend of breadcrumbs and flour is better.

I was wandering if you have ever tried “deep frying” these? They look delicious, and can’t wait to make these and the sauce. Love that sauce and I agree with you I could bathe in this also 🙂 :). Thanks so much for posting both recipes (sauce and nuggets).

I, too, find this confusing. Step 6 says ‘Remove the chicken from refrigerator and place about 8 pieces in milk mixture and then into the flour mixture.’ Should this say instead to add those pieces to the flour?

I made this for dinner tonight and it was well received. It tasted good, but didn’t bring back memories of CFA for me. I didn’t use peanut oil, so maybe this was part of the reason. I believe my oil was too hot and the first batch darkened quickly. The rest of the batches didn’t have the nice golden brown color as yours, although I allowed the oil to cool. Thank you for the recipe. I will try it again in the future with peanut oil and a lower frying temperature.

I made these last night and they turned out AMAZING!!! I copied this recipe but added a couple things,

1) 1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt
2) 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
3) 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
4) double coated the chicken by tossing in flour mixture, back in egg wash, then back in flour mixture for the extra crunch

I’ve tried other copycat recipes but this has been the closest taste to the actual nuggets. The first time I did pickle juice. Skip that!!! They do not use pickle juice for nuggets, only for the grilled chicken and chicken tenders I believe! Enjoy!!!!

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Melissa Jennings and Shelley King are the bloggers behind Stockpiling Moms®. Since 2009, they have been sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories. Read More…